CAPITOL OFFICE CHAIR

CAPITOL
STITOFCEJM 2059 PUBLIC SAFETY

SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 ?f i BUDGET FISCAL REVIEW
@alt nrma a 2 mm 2 W0
FAX (916) 651-4909 PUBLIC SAFETY LABOR
DISTRICT OFFICE SENATOR
1515 CLAY STREET COMMITTEES
2202 NANCY SKINNER ENERGY UTILITIES 
OAKLAND, CA 94612 COMMUNICATIONS
TEHEIO) 286?1333 MAJORITY WHIP ENVIRONMENTAL 
. IT
FAX (510) 286 3585 NINTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT

TRANSPORTATION 8: HOUSING
SENATOR SKIN 

November 6, 2017

 

Attorney General Xavier Becerra
1300 I Street, Suite 125

PO. Box 944255

Sacramento, California 94244?2550

Dear Attorney General Becerra:

I am writing to seek your assistance in examining the circumstances surrounding a recent series
of allegations related to the treatment of immigrants being held in the West County Detention
Facility in Contra Costa County. As you are aware, during last Spring?s budget'hearings, we had
a robust discussion regarding the need to provide oversight of all looked facilities being used to
detain people who are in the United States but may not have the appropriate documentation.
Toward that end, the enacted 2017?18 budget provided the Department of Justice a $1 million
General Fund augmentation and established your agency with oversight over the detention of
immigrants.

On November 2, 2017, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article entitled ?Deportation
Chosen Over Richmond Jail; Complaints Under Investigation.? That article outlines the
complaints of a 38-year old woman who was being detained in the West County Detention
Facility and in October asked the judge presiding over her case to deport her because she Could
no longer tolerate the conditions in the jail. Among the allegations outlined, was the fact that
inmates are being held in cells without access to bathrooms. Women being held in Contra Costa
have stated that they have been reduced to urinating and defecating in their clothes or in plastic
bags in their cells. Such allegations would certainly rise to the level of a civil rights violation
and merit review by the Attorney General?s office.

This is not the first time that serious concerns have been raised regarding the treatment of people
being detained in the state?s jails and private detention facilities under contractual arrangements
with federal immigration authorities. In fact, last May, my budget subcommittee held a hearing,
which you attended, where we expressed concerns about conditions within these facilities and
the treatment of people living in them.

As part of that hearing, we discussed a report released by the Office of the inspector General,
Department of Homeland Security that raised significant concerns about the treatment of
immigration detainees being held in Orange County?s Theo Lacy Detention Center. Among the

issues documented in that report was the fact that detainees were served spoiled lunch- meats,
forced to use dirty showers, and subjected to harsh solitary con?nement. Moreover, at Adelanto,
a 2,000 bed private detention facility, there have been reports of deaths due to inadequate
medical care, suicides, and multiple hunger strikes protesting unclean water and food, denial of
medical care, and excessive bail requirements.

The testimony at, and the information materials related to, the May budget hearing resulted in the
Legislature?s action to establish your of?ce as the state?s oversight authority over these matters.

I ask that you move with all due haste to begin your investigation as soon as possible and that
your first investigation be for the Contra Costa jail facility, followed by the Orange County jail
facility and Adelanto detention center. Your assistance in this regard is greatly appreciated I
look forward to your of?ce keeping me updated 1egarding findings so that we may determine if
additional action is necessary.

Sincerely,

  

NC ncy Skinner, Chair
Senate Budget Sub Committee #5
Senate Committee on Public Safety